Citing insufficient progress in sustainability and human rights by brands like H&M, Zara and Asics, sustainability-focused asset manager, ASN Impact Investors has divested all its holdings in clothing companies. This move makes ASN the first Dutch investor to exit the fashion industry.
Driven by competition with fast-fashion giants like Shein and Temu, the fashion industry is caught in a cycle of relentless consumerism, says San Lie, Director, ASN. These companies are an obstacle to sustainability as they produce even faster than traditional brands, he explains.
The fashion industry is one of the world’s most polluting, with significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation. Polyester, a key material in fast fashion, exacerbates the microplastic pollution problem by releasing tiny plastic particles during washing.
Exemplified by brands like Shein and Temu, superfast fashion has also disrupted the market for second-hand clothing in the Netherlands with about 55 per cent of the roughly 1 billion clothing items discarded annually by Dutch residents ending up in incinerators, he adds. .
Given the industry's and consumers' apparent unwillingness or inability to change, government intervention is necessary, opines Lie.
